Letters

Leeds united

You rightly draw attention to the appeal Hilary Benn has across the whole of the Labour party in his bid for the deputy leadership, announced last Friday (Report, October 28). I was one of his friends who urged him to put his hat in the ring a few weeks ago.

Hilary won the Leeds Central by-election in 1999 (not 1997), following the premature death of the well-loved MP and Foreign Office minister, Derek Fatchett. His selection against strong local favourites was a tribute to his communication skills and ability. He has built up good local support in Leeds for his clear commitment to Labour's international development goals and his understanding of the politics of poverty. The fact that Denis Skinner, Ian McCartney and others will be supporting him shows that he can unite the Labour party and become a huge asset not only to Labour's next prime minister, but to the nation as a whole.Fabian Hamilton MP Labour, Leeds North East